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Armato planning merger of men’s, women’s pro VB tours
by Kevin Cody
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Canyon Ceman (r), shown winning the 1997 AVP Hermosa Beach Open with partner Dain Blanton, fears that proposed rule changes will "bastardize" beach volleyball.
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Attorney and former professional beach volleyball player Leonard Armato is negotiating to acquire both the Association of Volleyball Professionals men’s league and the Beach Volleyball of America women’s league.
The Manhattan Beach resident represents Lakers basketball player Shaquille O’Neil and boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
He and BVA owner Charlie Jackson declined this week to comment on the negotiations. AVP owner Spencer Trask Securities in New York could not be reached. But sources familiar with the two leagues said negotiations are in the due diligence phase.
BVA began its third season last month with a tournament in Clearwater Florida. A tournament scheduled for last weekend in Miami was canceled. Both the BVA and the AVP have scheduled tournaments in Hermosa for the weekend of June 7 as part of the Mervyn’s California Beach Bash.
If Armato acquires the leagues he is expected to change the AVP rules to conform with the international FIVB league and Olympic rules. These include rally scoring, and a court that is two meters shorter and one meter narrower than traditional beach courts. FIVB rules also allow net serves and double hits when receiving the ball.
The rule changes are not popular with AVP players.
"It’s bastardized volleyball. The game we knew and loved growing up will be lost," commented Canyon Ceman a top-ranked AVP player and former AVP board member.
"The rule changes are designed to increase parity, which is good if you lack skills and bad if you have skills," he said.
El Camino College volleyball coach Richard Blount said the rule changes favor size over finesse.
"The shorter, narrower court takes away the deep shot and the cut shot. And ball handling becomes a lost art if the referees aren’t calling double hits and lifts," Blount said.
Blount was also critical of the rule allowing net serves because they are almost impossible to return.
He said the rally scoring was instituted so games could be timed to fit television schedules. In rally scoring a point is awarded on every serve to the team that wins the rally. Beach volleyball has traditionally used side-out scoring. Games tend to be more suspenseful and are more mentally demanding with side-out scoring because points are only awarded when the team serving wins the rally.
A spokesperson for Armato said he expects his negotiations with the AVP and BVP to be completed by next week. ER